Monday, September 22, 2008

Well, not so much, but when it comes to the fall (which it is in Kansas already) I am all about cooking. The summer, not so much. I am not really hungry in the Kansas heat, and I usually forget about having to feed my kids in the months of June, July and August. Thank God for Todd. He is the griller of the family, and we let him take care of dinner those months.

But come fall, I am all for eating. I love to eat warm, cooked-all-day-long foods. I love to eat steaks and stews. I love fall harvest apples and pears made into pies, crisps and cobblers. I love a good glass of wine, or a cold beer with dinner.

Tonight was no exception. The menu:

Scalloped ham and potatoes cooked in the crock pot for most of the day

Fresh pears

Apple crisp

A cold glass of Kim Crawford

The best part about it all was that the potatoes were freshly dug on Saturday, and the apples were picked from Aunt Helen's tree a few weeks ago. The pears came from a friend's house as well. You just can't get better than that.

Now I'm on the porch enjoying the sunset, watching the dog chase herself around the swing set, and psyching myself up for my run.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

To put beach pollution into perspective, trash was collected from various beaches, packaged it to look like seafood and displayed it at local farmers' markets. This is the print extension for those who couldn't actually make it to the market.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Do you know Colin Bevan at No Impact Man? If not, you should, but...I am reprinting here in it's entirety today's post. Those if you in NY need to be political today!

An open letter to NY State Senator Jeff Klein, who yesterday called me a f---ing assh-le after nearly hitting me with his Mercedes

You're never going to believe it folks, but today I had another close call on my bike, but this time the driver was New York State Senator Jeff Klein of the 34th Senate District in the Bronx. What follows is an open letter to the Senator which I will deliver to him today.

I am asking Senator Klein to meet with me and the Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, the New York City organization that advocates for bikers and pedestrians. Since the Senator has now had first hand experience, we'd like to talk to him about policies that would help keep bikes and cars from tangling with each other.

Bloggers and journalists, please feel free to repost the letter in its entirety (being sure, of course, to attribute it to Colin Beavan at NoImpactMan.com).

Readers, please email this post to every New Yorker you know.New York State citizens, please register your thoughts on the incident I will describe below with Senator Klein and the leader of the New York State Democrats. I will give contact details below. Please also ask Senator Klein to honor my request to meet with him.Also, readers, please excuse the vulgar language, which as you know, I don't generally use on the blog.

RE: My request, as a member of the board of Transportation Alternatives, to meet with you to discuss transportation policy as it relates to bicycle safety, carbon emissions, the cultivation of New York City quality of life, breathable air, and traffic congestion.

Though you may not know my name, you may recall that you and I met today under rather unpleasant circumstances on New York City's Broadway, just north of City Hall. You were driving your black Mercedes. I was riding a small folding bicycle and wearing a purple helmet.

To refresh your memory:Traffic was moving rather slowly and you were heading in the downtown direction, as was I. You were in the far left lane and I was riding on the curbside of that lane, near your rear passenger door. Suddenly, you began to veer your Mercedes to the left, potentially crushing me between your car and the cars parked on the side of the road.

With nowhere to go to get out of your way, and to avoid serious injury or death, in desperation, I chose to knock on your window to let you know that I was there and that you should avoid veering further in my direction.

At this point, you brought your vehicle to an abrupt halt, not to avoid hitting me, but because you apparently needed to communicate something to me. You rolled down your window and said, "Get your hands off my car, you fucking asshole."

I said, "You were veering into me and going to crush me."

You said, "You better not touch other people's cars. You might find that touching other people's cars is more dangerous than traffic."

This gave me the impression that you were threatening me.I said, "I think my life is more precious than your car."

You said, "I didn't see you."

I said, "If you're driving a car, it's your responsibility to see what's in road space before you veer into it. That's what your driver side mirror is for."

You said, "I looked in my mirror."

I said, "You should also turn and look over your shoulder since you know there could be a bicyclist."

You said, "Yeah. Well, maybe you should watch where you're going."

I said, "Where was I supposed to go? I was there. And you were veering into me."

I was about to remind you that, in the past week, two cyclists have been killed by automobiles in New York City, but you made a gesture which implied you considered this conversation a waste of time and drove off. That is when I saw that your car had special license plates proclaiming your membership of the New York State Senate.

A red light stopped you at the next intersection. I rode alongside you and, more cautiously, tapped again on your window. You rolled it down. I could tell by your face that you weren't happy to be talking again to this particular New York State citizen, on whose behalf you govern.

I asked you, "What is your name, Senator?"

You said, "Senator Jeff Klein." This is how I know it was you.

Now, the thing is, Senator, I don't particularly call you to task for calling me a fucking asshole. If the roles had been reversed, and I had a big black Mercedes and you came up in a purple helmet, knocking on my window, and I didn't realize I was on the verge of crushing your legs, I might have called you a fucking asshole, too.

I'd like to point out, however, that, as mad as you were about my touching your car window with my hand, you could double or triple that strength of emotion when it comes to how frightening it is to be on the other side of the Mercedes driving wheel, especially when that particular Mercedes is coming toward you.

Weigh it up again: One guy is riding a bike that weighs a grand total of 22 pounds and has a relatively small potential to harm others. The other guy is in charge of a powerful machine that weighs a couple of tons. Which person has the greater responsibility to watch out for the care and welfare of people who may get in their path, by their own fault or not?

As a State Senator, I'm sure you especially feel the weight of the obligation to look out for the welfare of others, no?

Again, this is not to say you did not act like many other humans in the same situation. But it is to say that transportation policy in New York City currently falls way too short of making sure that unintended confrontations like ours--and worse ones that end in fatalities--don't occur.

Proper policy, which provided ubiquitous segregated bike lanes or which limited traffic congestion, could reduce such incidents without having to depend on drivers of black Mercedes, for example, remembering to look in their driver side mirror or over their shoulders.

It is for this reason that I hope you will honor my request to visit your office, along with Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Paul Steely White, to ask you to reconsider your current platforms on transportation and traffic congestion in New York City.

As you know, the United States' dependence of foreign oil contributes significantly to our current economic crisis and is a matter of national security. Furthermore, the planet's future ability to support human life is in peril because of global warming caused, in large measure, by the overuse of the same foreign oil.

At the same time, countless studies show that making the streets of New York and other cities safer and more convenient for bicyclists and pedestrians would reduce automobile use, dependence on foreign oil, carbon emissions, and traffic congestion while contributing to breathable air and livable streets, improved retail business, and the physical health of New Yorkers.

Yet, until now, your platform has presented obstacles to the adaptations that might bring these benefits to New York City. Not only did you oppose congestion pricing, a measure intended to decrease vehicular traffic, but you proposed eliminating the tolls on bridges and tunnels into Manhattan on holidays, which would bring more traffic into the City and further encourage automobile use, just when it should be decreased.

I hope you'll consider that these policies are out of step with the current times. I hope, too, seeing, in the case of our confrontation, the result of your policies when it comes to impact on personal lives, in general, and the safety of bikers, in particular, might also give you cause to reconsider your position.

Policies that make New York City safe for bicyclists and pedestrians--the people who live on the streets as opposed to the people who just drive through them--is best, both for our citizens and the planet.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding my request to meet in person to discuss these issues.

Readers, if you would like to support my request to meet with Senator Klein or to generally register your thoughts about his confrontation with me, a telephone call is the most effective means of communication. But if you can't call, please email.

You might also care to register your concerns with his more senior colleague, the leader of the Democrats in the State Senate, Senator Malcolm A. Smith.

Friday, September 12, 2008

I went to Abilene, KS (population 6,305) last weekend and picked up a few things:

$1: Country Home Magazine (October 2004) with the best cover EVAR.

$8: Old frame with wonderful black and brown detailing.

$20: Metal desk which needs to be sandblasted and repainted, but will be great in Molly's room. (I swear it weighs 300 pounds, and will also serve as our tornado shelter!)

While I was at Aunt Helen's picking apples, I also shopped in her garage. I picked up this cool egg basket and that white enamel bowl...currently serving as a holding area for 1/362 of the apples we have at our house!

Pears and apples are abundant at our house right now, and we will be doing a lot of canning this weekend!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Last night the kids and I went to our Great Aunt Helen's house to pick apples. Boy, did we pick apples! You can see our bounty below! I filled 2 fruit boxes and 2 lids to take home for myself. Aunt Helen will give the rest away to friends and neighbors and the Food Bank.

We literally only picked the low hanging fruit, and what we could get with our picker and a few ladders. Aunt Helen will have someone else come over who will climb up and literally shake the tree and will get to keep all he shakes out.

We're planning on making applesauce and apple butter and whatever else we can think of!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Tonight I was reading thru the October 2008 issue of Midwest Living magazine (which I do love by the way) and I am so digging the article on Cindie Sinclair of Camrose Hill Farms in Stillwater, MN.

Although her website is beautiful, it is primarily focused on weddings at the farm, and wedding floral. Not that I Don't love that stuff, but I already had my wedding! For those of you looking for a venue, or ideas, go see her!

What I loved most about the article in ML was how she uses unexpected and dried plants from her gardens in her arrangements. Bittersweet, hops, apples and sedum combine for original and interesting pieces. I too love to use unexpected things from my garden in arrangements, and it is fun to see professionals doing it too!